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[In publishing this address, it has seemed well to append copies of the correspondence 
upon which it is based. Attention is called to the resume contained in the letters to Mr. 
Hoover on page 22 and to the Department of State on page 30. No answers have been 
received to any of these questions as this address goes to press on January 26, 1921.] 



Medical Relief for Soviet Russia 

ADDRESS DELIVERED AT 

Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia 

JANUARY 18, 1921 

by 
J. L. MAGNES 



We appeal tonight for funds to send medical relief to Soviet 
Russia. 

Many relief organizations are appealing to the generosity of the 
American people to bring relief to the stricken peoples of Europe 
and Asia. But I regret to say that this meeting tonight may be 
the only one in this broad and opulent land where voices are being 
raised publicly in behalf of the sick and the suffering of Soviet 
Russia. 

Why should this be? It is not because the wellsprings of mercy 
and compassion within the American people have run dry. What 
humane cause has ever appealed to the heart and the mind of the 
American people without getting a response in abounding measure? 
The suffering of the millions within Soviet Russia has not brought 
the usual response from America because, unfortunately, everything 
has been done to keep the facts from reaching the heart and the 
mind of the American people. Anti-Russian propaganda, has been 
carried on by Departments of Government, by the press, by 
preachers, lawyers, and teachers; and it is no wonder that the 
American people has come to believe that withholding relief from 
Soviet Russia is one of the great democratic virtues. 

A large part of the responsibility for the hostility or indiffer- 
ence of the American people to suffering in Soviet Russia is, I am 
sorry to say, to be borne by the two greatest of American relief organi- 
zations, the American Red Cross and the American Relief Adminis- 
tration. I realize, of course, that these two organizations have a 
quasi-governmental character, and that they are, in large measure, 






dependent upon the weird, blundering policy of our State Depart- 
ment in relation to Soviet Russia. I am sure, too, that many of 
the leaders within these organizations must have bemoaned their 
impotence more than once. Nevertheless, on the record as it stands, 
we find that these two mighty and noble institutions simply har- 
dened their hearts towards the innocent and suffering millions of the 
great Communist Republic. They are recorded as having brought 
aid and comfort to every enemy of Soviet Russia from first to last, 
from Kolchak all the way through Wrangel. They were all ready 
with their barges of food and clothing and medicines to bring the 
message of brotherhood and compassion from America to the popu- 
lation of Russia, provided — provided the adventurer Judenich, with 
his hangman Balakowich, and the mercenaries of a dozen nationali- 
ties should capture Petrograd on the scheduled day. The valor of 
Red Petrograd disturbed the Entente schedule, and the message of 
humanity and compassion from America is still undelivered. In- 
stead of bringing supplies to assuage the misery of suffering Russia, 
there is an authentic record, made by a member of the Kerenski 
Cabinet and of the Wrangel Cabinet, of which I hold a copy, that 
large portions of the food supplies of an American relief organiza- 
tion were sold speculatively by the Judenich authorities at six times 
the legal Esthonian rate, and that the proceeds from these sales of 
American relief supplies were used not for relief , but for the political 
and military benefit of the bankrupt Judenich Northwestern Gov- 
ernment. 

I am not to be understood, of course, as saying that these two 
great and humane American organizations would countenance will- 
ingly such a misapplication of American relief supplies. I am 
pointing to it merely to show that in difficult and troublous times 
such as war brings with it, the relief organizations were prepared 
to endure, and justly so, much loss and misapplication of their 
supplies, knowing that only thus would they have a chance of bring- 
ing in the relief which they knew the innocent common people were 
so much in need of. Yet, when it comes to the relief of Soviet 
Russia, all kinds of scruples crop up. Surely, the Soviet authorities 
are at least as responsible, politically and financially, as the motley 
group of Judenich's administrators and soldiers, at whose heels 
American relief supplies were to be poured with true American 
generosity into suffering Russia. Granting all the political diffi- 
culties placed in the way of these organizations by a confused State 
Department; granting all of the opprobrium that might have at- 
tached to these institutions among an influential section of American 






public opinion all too well fed-up on anti-Bolshevik propaganda; 
granting all of the impediments that might have been placed in 
their way by the Soviet authorities, is it not something for Ameri- 
cans to think over, that these two organizations — the American Red 
Cross, whose inspiring motto before the war used to be "Humanity 
and Neutrality," and which throughout the war brought comfort 
and healing to tens of thousands, and the American Relief Admin- 
istration, which has saved humanity from starvation on a greater 
scale than at any time in recorded history since Joseph in Egypt, 
and not the least of whose merits was the braving of public opinion 
in appealing for the relief of the children of our former enemies, 
Germany and Austria — that these two mighty organizations should 
not have been able to make their influence felt in behalf of the 
suffering millions of Russia, that they should never have asked 
the American people to lift the cup of compassion to the lips of 
bleeding Russia? 

Nay, more. The saddest part of it is, they have never tried 
to find out if there might not be a way to bring relief to Soviet 
Russia. Yet, the head of one of these organizations has but re- 
cently said: 

"I do not believe that there is any place in the world where the suf- 
fering of children is greater than in Bolshevik Russia." 

It is because these organizations have not even tried to find a 
way of bringing relief to Soviet Russia that the American people 
has not answered the cry for help, and it is for this reason that a 
meeting like ours tonight takes on added importance. We must, 
in the first place, contribute of our funds as largely as we can for 
the purchase of medical supplies to be sent from this country to 
Russia. But we must do more than that. We must endeavor to 
reason with the American people and with the State Department 
and with the American Red Cross and the American Relief Admin- 
istration, in the hope that, with the calming of war passions, and 
with more information on the subject, we may no longer be remiss 
in our duty to the great, the struggling Russian people. 

In preparing for this meeting, I took the liberty of communi- 
cating with the State Department, the American Relief Adminis- 
tration, or European Relief Council, of which Mr. Hoover is chair- 
man, the American Red Cross, the American Friends Service Com- 
mittee, and the Soviet envoy to the United States, Mr. L. C. A. K. 
Martens. What I say is based upon statements contained in these 
written communications. I repeat, therefore, that, with the excep- 

3 



tion of the American Friends Service Committee and the Jewish 
Joint Distribution Committee, no sincere attempt has been made to 
find a way of bringing relief to Soviet Russia. 

This statement may appear strange to you in view of a state- 
ment published on January 14, just four days ago, from Mr. Nor- 
man H. Davis, Acting Secretary of State, on American policy towards 
Soviet Russia. Despite its many contradictions, this statement was, 
on the whole, the most hopeful we have yet had of the opening up 
of communications between this country and Soviet Russia. 

In this statement, Mr. Davis declared that large-scale relief 
work in Soviet Russia had not been undertaken by American organi- 
zations because of difficulties raised, not by the Government of the 
United States, but by the Soviets. "Representatives of the large 
relief organizations, with the knowledge and approval of the De- 
partment of State," he continued, "have visited the central Soviet 
authorities in Moscow in the hope of establishing a modus vivendi 
for such work, but with two exceptions have been met by rebuffs.' ' 
The two exceptions, he specifies later in his letter, as the Jewish 
Joint Distribution Committee and the American Friends Service 
Committee (Quakers). Other relief organizations, however — mean- 
ing the American Red Cross and the American Relief Administra- 
tion — have experienced only rebuffs from the Soviets, so he declares; 
and he concludes, therefore, that "the official obstruction to the 
feeding of sick Russian children by Americans has come not from 
this Government, but from the Soviets." In other words, Mr. 
Davis bases the hostile policy of the State Department towards 
relief in Soviet Russia upon alleged rebuffs to the American Red 
Cross and the American Relief Administration. 

What have been the actual experiences of these relief organiza- 
tions in relation to Soviet Russia? 

I have not first-hand material on the recent experiences of the 
American Red Cross, although damaging public statements have 
been made, and as far as I am aware, never contradicted, concerning 
the function and the status of the gentleman who entered Soviet 
Russia presumably on behalf of the American Red Cross. 

As to the experiences of the American Relief Administration, 
however, I can assert the following: First, the American Relief 
Administration has never sought assurances from the Soviet Gov- 
ernment, and has never sought to find out the terms under which 
relief work in Soviet Russia might have been carried on. Second, 
two representatives of the American Relief Administration, whose 
names are a matter of common knowledge, and who happened to 



cross the lines into Soviet Russia last spring, have presented the 
most favorable reports and recommendations for relief work in 
Russia to the American Relief Administration. In view of this, 
how can the Acting Secretary of State speak of Soviet rebuffs to 
this American organization? 

But whereas on the one hand, the State Department bases its 
policy upon the alleged experiences of the American Relief Admin- 
istration, which that organization never had, the American Relief 
Administration, in its turn, places full responsibility for failure to 
do relief work in Russia upon the State Department. The American 
Relief Administration declared but a few day ago that 

"It is not so much a question of assurances between the Soviet Gov- 
ernment and the American Relief Administration as it is the necessity 
of having our own State Department satisfied that such assurances as 
we might be able to secure would be satisfactory, and they would be 
satisfied that we would be protected in using contributions from Amer- 
ican citizens in undertaking this work. We would suggest that, as we 
look to the State Department for approval of any plans for entering any 
comprehensive arrangement for child feeding in Soviet Russia, you secure 
their opinion for use in your address in Philadelphia." 

We thus see that the American Relief Administration shifts the 
responsibility to the State Department, and the State Department 
shifts it to the American Relief Administration. It is the familiar 
and delightful indoor sport of "passing the buck." Between the 
two, hundreds of thousands of innocent children in Soviet Russia 
are deprived of the assistance which the generosity of the American 
public might bring them. 

It may be interesting to add that before the American Relief 
Administration was ready to admit on January 12, that it was not 
a question of assurances from the Soviet Government, but that it was 
all "up to" the State Department, they declared on January 8 that 

"As to Soviet Russia, we have refrained from entering into this field 
until we could secure satisfactory assurances which would protect our 
workers and our supplies and give us the necessary freedom in distribu- 
ting to the children, without discrimination as to politics, race, or religion. 
Such assurances have not been forthcoming." 

On January 8 it was a question of Soviet assurances; and on Jan- 
uary 12, it was not. In the middle of November, the Associate 
Editor of the Newspaper Enterprise Association of Cleveland, Ohio, 
was informed by an official of the American Relief Administration that 

"We have not been allowed by the Soviet Government to go into 
Soviet Russia." 



Would not a more exact statement have been: 

We have not asked the Soviet Government to be allowed to go into 
Soviet Russia? 

And in view of all of this, the "Literary Digest/' which has devoted 
itself high-mindedly and whole-heartedly to the cause of European 
relief, as the publicity organ of the American Relief Administration, 
declared to a correspondent at the end of December, that 

"It is a mistake to say that the children of Russia are 'excluded' 
from the benefits of the American Relief Administration and the Euro- 
pean Relief Council. . . . The Quakers are in Soviet Russia carrying 
organized relief to Russian children and receive their financial support 
from Mr. Hoover's organization." 

Upon inquiry, I find that the American Friends Service Committee 
(the Quakers) receive no financial support whatever for Soviet Russia 
from Mr. Hoover's organization. 

We find, therefore, that the policy of the State Department of 
our Government in relation to relief to Soviet Russia is based upon 
alleged rebuffs to an organization which that organization never 
met with. Some of the representatives of that organization declare 
that they are doing work in Soviet Russia through the Quakers, 
although this is not so. Others declare that they have not been 
allowed by the Soviet Government to go into Soviet Russia, al- 
though we do not know that they have ever asked for permission. 
Still other representatives complain that assurances have not been 
forthcoming from the Soviet Government for the proper distribution 
of their supplies, although such assurances were never sought; and 
when this is pointed out, the admission is finally made that it is 
not these assurances, which they have never sought, that matter, but 
that the State Department is to be held responsible. 

Is it not of such confusion that the entire American policy 
towards Russia from the beginning of the Russian Revolution has 
been built up? 

We appeal to the State Department and the American Relief 
Administration to get together and subject all the facts in the case 
to a thorough revision. Relief for Soviet Russia is of too grave 
importance to be permitted to fall between these two stools. 

There is, furthermore, some reason to feel that the American 
Relief Administration and the American Red Cross may not be 
entirely hopeless. In a communication of January 14, Mr. Hoover 
asserts that he will not ask for American help for Soviet Russia 
until the distribution of American supplies can be supervised there 



"upon the same terms as everywhere else in the world"; and further- 
more, that his organization "will not jeopardize Americans by 
establishing them in Russia so long as Americans are held prisoners 
there without cause." Mr. Hoover has therefore now been asked to 
state the terms upon which his organization would be willing to 
engage upon relief work in Soviet Russia; and, should he do so, it 
would be the first time, so far as I am aware, that these terms will 
have been made known. If these terms are reasonable and are not 
an interference with the sovereignty of the Soviet Government, we 
have the assurance of Mr. Martens, who said on November 18: 

"If the American Relief Administration desires to use the funds which 
it is now collecting, or the stocks which it has on hand, for the relief 
of starving children in Soviet Russia, it may easily do so. There is 
nothing to prevent the Relief Administration from shipping supplies 
directly to Soviet Russia. These supplies will be gladly received and 
fairly distributed by the Soviet Government. If the American Relief 
Administration desires to inspect the manner of distribution of these 
supplies, or to cooperate in their distribution, I am sure that this could 
be arranged. 

This statement by Mr. Martens is based not only upon what 
he knows of the spirit and intentions of the Soviet Government, but 
also upon the past experiences of American relief organizations 
which, so far from meeting rebuffs, have always enjoyed the utmost 
cooperation of the Soviet authorities. 

I would refer, first, to the experiences of the American Red 
Cross Mission to Russia in the distribution of 400,000 cans of con- 
densed milk in the city of Petrograd during the months of February, 
March, and April, 1918. The Distributing Committee which was 
then organized jointly by the American Red Cross Mission on the 
one hand, and by the District Soviets of Petrograd, the Central 
Petrograd Soviet, and the Commissariat of Social Welfare, func- 
tioned in accordance with approved American social service methods, 
and gave complete satisfaction not only to the population of Petro- 
grad and the Soviet authorities, but also to the American Red 
Cross. All of this is recorded in reports submitted to the American 
Red Cross by Col. Raymond Robbins, who was at the head of the 
Red Cross Mission, and by Major Allen Wardwell, who was at its 
head after Col. Robbins' departure. Mr. R. R. Stevens, the Man- 
ager of the National City Bank in Petrograd, was in charge of this 
work during Major WardwelFs absence from Petrograd. On each 
can of milk, over the signature and under the symbol of the Ameri- 
can Red Cross was printed the following legend: 



THIS CAN OF MILK 

IS A 

GIFT FROM THE AMERICAN RED CROSS 
TO THE SICK AND TO THE CHILDREN OF PETROGRAD 



NO ONE HAS THE RlGHT TO SELL 
OR 

To Use the Milk Contained in this Can 

For Any Other Purpose Except Its Use 

free of charge 

By the Children and the Sick for Whom It Is Intended 



AMERICAN RED CROSS 

EUROPE HOTEL, FOURTH FLOOR 

I hold in my hand, so that you may see, a photographic facsimile of 
this legend on one of these cans. The Americans who had this 
work in hand have declared that none of this milk was misapplied 
or used for any purpose other than that of giving nourishment and 
sustenance to the helpless and the weak. 

I refer next to the experiences of the two representatives of the 
American Relief Administration who happened to cross into Soviet 
Russia last Spring. As I have already said, they did not meet 
with rebuffs. On the contrary, they portrayed the situation in 
such colors as might satisfy all the scruples of the American Relief 
Administration, and as might have been expected to impose upon 
them the obligation of bringing relief to Soviet Russia. 

I refer also to the experiences of the American Friends Service 
Committee, with its headquarters here in Philadelphia. As the 
Acting Secretary of State points out, this organization "has been 
operating almost continuously in Russia on a small scale under 
British management." Inquiry of the American Friends Service 
Committee will show that their relief supplies, now their third ship- 
ment, have reached Russia safely and have been distributed satis- 
factorily, and that the Friends have met with no rebuffs, but have 
had the utmost cooperation from the Soviet authorities. Their 
workers have been given every opportunity to visit institutions and 
homes, to direct that supplies be shipped to these particular homes, 
and to visit these homes afterwards. 

I refer finally to the experiences of the Jewish Joint Distribu- 
tion Committee. This Committee has not met with rebuffs, but 
has been able to effect an arrangement with the Soviet authorities 

8 



whereby a relief committee was formed in Moscow of all elements 
of the Jewish population, including the bourgeois, for the purpose 
of bringing relief to the tens of thousands of victims of barbarous 
pogroms perpetrated under the banners of those counter-revolution- 
ary armies which the American Red Cross and the American Relief 
Administration have not scrupled to support. 

What, in view of these experiences, becomes of the charge, 
upon which the State Department policy is based, that American 
relief organizations have experienced rebuffs at the hands of Soviet 
Russia? On the contrary, we see that if there be but the will, 
there is the way; and this, in face of the statement by the Acting 
Secretary of State, that the Soviets' theory of Communism will not 
permit the exercise of private philanthropy. Yes, if the blockade 
were lifted in fact as well as in name, Russia would need no private 
philanthropy. Russia has enough gold and materials and human 
power to pay for the satisfaction of all her needs. But as long as 
the inhuman cordon sanitaire is stretched around Russia by America 
and the Entente Powers, it becomes the duty and the privilege of 
every American to do whatever he can to bring the aid of private 
philanthropy to the innocents without food, without clothes, with- 
out medical and surgical help. Nothing stands in the way, except 
a lack of understanding and good will. 

Further encouragement for keeping up our work and appealing 
to the better conscience of the present opponents of relief for Soviet 
Russia is to be found in a very recent statement by Mr. Hoover — 
something that was entirely new to me and which I have endeavored 
to have confirmed at the State Department, thus far without result 
— that the State Department has established the fact 

"that so far as the United States is concerned, nothing prevents the 
Bolshevik Government from devoting their gold to the purchase of 
American milk for their children." 

This, if correct, will, I have no doubt, be good news to Soviet 
Russia, which is in fact in need of milk for her children. In the 
sincere hope of being contradicted tomorrow, I would nevertheless 
hazard the guess that even for so humane a purpose as buying milk 
for rickety children, Bolshevik gold is still taboo for the present 
Administration in Washington. They have ordered the Assay Office 
of the United States Mint to refuse to assay any gold having even 
remotely a Russian Soviet origin. American smelters have been 
threatened, so I am informed, with a withdrawal of their usual 
assay privileges, should they ever be caught offering for assay this 



terrible Soviet gold. Banking institutions have refrained from pay- 
ing out Russian gold under threats from the Federal Reserve Board 
which, because of present business depression, can exercise its terror 
at will. Producers and merchants of all kinds, large and small, 
who have been desirous of exporting goods and supplies to Russia, 
have been given conflicting opinions and advice at Washington, 
ranging all the way from a complete shifting of responsibility to 
definite threats and warnings. This is all on the theory that Soviet 
gold is dirty and may not be handled, and the rest of the gold of 
the world is clean and may not only be handled, but grabbed 
after. The gold found in Russia by the Soviet Revolution is stolen 
property and not to be touched, but the gold being expended by 
the so-called Russian Ambassador at Washington through the so- 
called Embassy of a non-existent Russian Government is vouched 
for by our State Department. Sir Robert Home, however, of the 
present British Cabinet, who is endeavoring to negotiate a trade 
treaty with Soviet Russia, unblushingly and publicly counts up the 
amount of Soviet gold available for British trade purposes, and seems 
not to be so solicitous of the sensibilities of the French money 
changers and the dispossessed Russian emigres as is our own State 
Department. This virtual maintenance of the blockade of Russia, 
despite all pious phrases to the contrary, through the prohibition 
of the conversion of Russian gold into usable American currency, 
is, I am afraid, in the way of Mr. Hoover's hopeful reading of what 
he thinks is the State Department's permission to sell American 
milk for Russian children in return for Bolshevik gold. It may 
well be, however, that Mr. Hoover's optimism is justified, for in 
this mass and welter of inconsistencies and a lack of a definite policy, 
everything is possible — even a touch of humanity. 

Meanwhile, the Biblical adage holds good: Put not your trust 
in princes. The great and the mighty may, or they may not, be 
moved by simple considerations of humanity. Certainly, scepticism 
is not unjustified when an organization like the American Red Cross 
will write on so immediate and moving a question as Russian relief 
this hypothetical sentence: 

"Whenever the situation may be such as to change this point of view, 
the Red Cross will hope to be able to act to whatever extent may be 
consistent with available resources." 

You see, as far as Soviet Russia is concerned, the Red Cross still 
deals in "whenever," "may be," and "it will hope to be able" and 
"to whatever extent" and "may be consistent" and "available." 

10 



May we not hope that this will not be for all too long? 

With confusion, therefore, in the State Department, with 
ambiguities on the part of the American Relief Adminis- 
tration, with hypotheticalities, if there be such a word, 
from the American Red Cross, and with ill-will all around 
towards Soviet Russia and her Bolshevik children, let us 
simpler and less important individuals and organizations get to 
work hard and do what we can in our own smaller way to satisfy 
our human sympathies and bring health to our suffering Russian 
brothers and sisters. Let us, through our contributions tonight, 
aid the Society for Medical Relief in Soviet Russia to send to that 
stricken land medicine and drugs and bandages and rubber gloves 
and surgeons' tools and soap and changes of linen and other hos- 
pital supplies, so that the sick man on his couch of pain, even though 
he be a Communist, may find relief, so that the suffering woman in 
the pangs of childbirth or of death, even though she be the wife of 
a bourgeois counter-revolutionary, may be spared something of 
agony and of terror, so that all the children may have a chance to 
grow up straight and uncrippled and clean of body and of mind. 
Mr. Hoover believes that there is no place in the world where the 
suffering of children is greater than in Bolshevik Russia, and yet 
his organization does nothing to help them. We here happen to 
know that there is no place in the world where suffering children 
are shown greater love and devotion than in Bolshevik Russia, yet 
they are still in need of everything we can do to help them. For 
one thing, we should all of us, without distinction of religion or 
nationality or politics, support that truly Christian band of workers 
who call themselves the American Friends Service Committee. 
Thej-, the Quakers, and they alone of all the religious communities 
of America, preserved their sweetness of spirit during the war and 
were ready to bring comfort and healing to all sufferers, to friend 
and foe alike. It is they who, with the help of Mr. Hoover's or- 
ganization, are now carrying the burden, and are rejoicing in the 
doing of a relief work which is a godsend to the stricken lands of 
Germany and Austria. It is they who, through their English and 
American branches, have laughed to scorn the prevalent fears of 
going into Russia, and who are carrying the message of comfort and 
of healing, of international solidarity and of peace. If it be only 
fear for the safety of the American relief workers that keeps the 
American Relief Administration or the American Red Cross back 
from Russia, I know that they need but turn to the Society of Friends 
and there will be no lack of competent and brave spirits, eager to 

11 



make the sacrifice and do the work. And if I may address a word 
to the American Friends Service Committee, it would be to urge 
them to take the lead yet again and bring about coordinated action 
on a large scale in behalf of American relief for Soviet Russia. 



Whatever medical supplies are contributed by the meeting 
tonight will be sent direct to the Commissariat for Public Health 
in Moscow. This department of the Soviet Government was created 
by decree in July, 1918, with full control of all medical and sanita- 
tion work. Since that time it has been engaged upon as valiant 
a combat with sickness, disease, and plague as the world has ever seen. 

The enemies of Soviet Russia thought to break down her resist- 
ance by denying her people the aid of medicines and drugs and 
hospital supplies from abroad. Let the Soviets be destroyed even 
though the Russian people be ravaged by disease and plague; and 
they believed, in their shortsightedness, that their cordon sanitaire, 
their cordon of death, could keep behind the Russian barrier not 
only Russian revolutionary ideas, but disease and plague as well. 
But, despite the fatuous readiness of Russia's enemies to have Rus- 
sia's plagues and epidemics spread over into the Western world if 
only Russia's revolutionary ideas might be crushed, it is due to the 
heroic efforts of the Russian people themselves under the guidance of 
the Commissariat for Public Health that not only the Russian people, 
but the Western world as well have been spared the infection that 
might just as well have come out of Russia if it had depended solely 
upon the barbarism and inhumanity of Russia's enemies. 

There is in this country a copy of the official Soviet Calendar 
for 1920, and in this Calendar among other things is an official state- 
ment of the Commissariat for Public Health on its organization and 
activities up to the fall of 1919. I am hoping that the complete 
statement, which is but a dry recital of facts, may soon be published, 
in order that in this way the American public may be encouraged 
to support the vast public health work which is now going on in 
Russia despite the blockade, despite the lack of medicines and 
hospital supplies. 

From of old, as many of you here know all too well, the death 
rate of Russia has been much in excess of that of the rest of Europe. 
At the outbreak of the war in 1914, the death rate of Russia was 
26.7 per thousand, and in the rest of Europe 14 per thousand. 
There was a record at that time of over 14,500,000 cases of conta- 

12 



gious diseases, and of over 7,000,000 cases of what are classified as 
parasitic diseases. In addition to these general categories, the 
record shows over 1,000,000 cases of syphilis and over 700,000 of 
tuberculosis. Altogether, the health figures of Russia at the be- 
ginning of the war present a stupendous picture of misery, filth 
and disease. 

It was only with the coming of the Soviet revolution in Octo- 
ber of 1917 that energetic and intelligent steps were taken to save 
the Russian people from disintegration through sickness, disease, 
and plague. During the period of the Russian war from 1914 up 
to the time of the Bolshevik revolution, typhus and smallpox and 
cholera and influenza had assumed alarming proportions. For 
example, in 1916, although large parts of the Russian territories, par- 
ticularly those inhabited by congested industrial populations, were 
held by the Germans, there were recorded, in the shrunken Russia 
alone, over 150,000 cases of typhus, and over 100,000 cases of small- 
pox, and over 1,200 cases of cholera, this being the beginning of 
the cholera epidemic that broke out in the summer of 1918 just as 
the Commissariat for Public Health was being established. 

It was combatting this cholera epidemic in the summer of 1918 
that gave the first proof of the efficiency of the Commissariat for 
Public Health and of the devotion of the thousands of health workers 
who were enlisted in the service of the people. During the cholera 
epidemic in 1908, ten years before under the Czarist regime, when 
the whole world was anxious to keep this epidemic localized and 
when Russia had access to all the world's sources of supplies, 200,000 
cases of cholera were recorded. In the epidemic of the summer of 
1918, despite the difficult circumstances under which the Commis- 
sariat had to labor, with war within and without Russia, the 
number of cholera cases was kept down to 35,619. 

In the fall of 1918, the country was ravaged by the Spanish 
influenza, 700,000 cases of this sickness being recorded. 

From the fall of 1918 to the spring of 1919, during eight months, 
the Commissariat for Public Health had to combat an additional 
epidemic, that of eruptive typhus; and the story of this forms in 
itself a great object-lesson of what intelligence and self-sacrifice and 
devotion to a great idea can achieve. During these eight months 
there was recorded the stupendous number of 1,299,262 cases of 
eruptive typhus. I am informed that medical records contain no 
parallel to this. An outline of the steps taken to combat typhus 
will give an indication of the general methods of the Commissariat 
for Public Health: 

13 



1. 200,000,000 Roubles were appropriated for educating the public as to 
the nature and causes of this sickness, and as to methods of prevention. 

2. Thousands of beds were added to hospitals for the treatment of typhus 
cases alone. In the city of Moscow, 9,000 such additional beds were 
established. 

3. Baths, laundries, and delousing plants were established throughout the 
whole country, and the use of them was made compulsory upon the 
population. All of this service was free of charge. 

4. Special commissions with large powers were created, the membership 
of which was recruited from workmen's organizations throughout the 
country. 

5. Special laboratories for research work on new cures were established. 

6. Special commissions with great sums of money at their disposal were 
created for experimentation with new vaccines. Among these vaccine 
centres were Moscow, Petrograd, Saratov, Kharkov, Smolensk. 

7. Two congresses of scientists were convened in Moscow in February 
and in March, 1919, to discuss the scientific material gathered in the 
course of combatting the disease. The Commissariat also convened 
an All-Russian Congress of bacteriologists and specialists in epidemic 
diseases at the end of April, 1919. At this Congress, Prof. Predt- 
schenski presented the chief report on the epidemic and its causes, 
stating at the same tine that an approximate solution of the problem 
had been found, and that the specific typhus parasite had been defin- 
itely established. (It may also be of interest to remark that the 
same Prof. Predtschenski headed an expedition later to Astrakhan for 
the purpose of studying cholera at one of its sources.) 

The net result of this vigorous and heroic campaign against 
typhus has been that the Russian people, though still suffering 
grievously, has been saved from being stricken down by this plague, 
and as far as the rest of the world is concerned Russia, at least, 
will not be the chief source of typhus infection. 

As for the rest of the activities of the Commissariat for Public 
Health, I can but mention in passing that they have attacked with 
similar energy problems of sanitation and hygiene, as also social 
diseases such as tuberculosis and venereal infections. The Com- 
missariat has established a central hygienic museum in Moscow. It 
has distributed millions of copies of popular pamphlets on questions 
of health, and has issued scientific works and periodicals. It 
has created in Moscow, in a building devoted solely to this pur- 
pose, a central medical library, and it has convened congresses and 
conferences not only in Moscow and other large cities, but also in 
smaller towns and country districts, dealing with all phases of med- 
ical and health work. The Commissariat itself is housed in a build- 
ing of its own, and its administration is divided into eleven general 
departments. 

14 



It is to this Commissariat that the medical supplies that I 
hope we shall provide tonight will be sent. All of the medical 
supplies of Russia were taken over by the Commissariat in March, 
1919, the Government appropriating 1,300,000,000 Roubles for this 
purpose. The medical supplies which are sent from this country 
are such as have been asked for by the Commissariat for Public 
Health in order to supply their own deficiencies. What humane 
person, I ask, can withhold his hand for a single instant from such 
a work? 

Holy Russia! What memories of black terror, what echoes of 
religious inquisition and pogroms this phrase conjures up! WTiat a 
change has come! Now it is you and I and all the young, hopeful 
world who, in all sincerity, can repeat the words, Sacred, Holy 
Russia ! Whatever her faults and blunders, her soil has been sanc- 
tified to us by the tears and blood of her suffering millions, and she 
is endeared and made precious to us the more completely because 
of the wickedness, the injustice and hypocrisy which keep her in 
agony and in pain. 

We send our greetings to the Russian people tonight. We 
bid them be strong and of good courage. We would have them 
look upon the meagre supplies we send them not only as balm for 
their wounds and healing for their bodies, but as messengers of 
brotherhood and of peace, as harbingers of our undjdng hopes for 
the new world that is sure to come. 



16 



APPENDIX I 

COPIES OF CORRESPONDENCE WITH AMERICAN RELIEF 
ADMINISTRATION 

[1] 

114 Fifth Avenue 

New York, January 5, 1921. 
Dear Sir: 

I am expecting to address a meeting at the Philadelphia Opera House on 
Tuesday evening, January 18, in behalf of medical relief in Soviet Russia. 

In thinking over my address, it seemed to me important that I inquire 
of you as to the attitude of your organization towards medical relief in Soviet 
Russia. Conflicting statements about this have been made by an official of 
your organization on the one hand, and by the "Literary Digest" on the other.* 

I know that you must have given much consideration to the grave question 
of relief, particularly relief through medicines and supplies, for Soviet Russia, 
and I am wondering if the time has not come when your organization might 
be willing to engage upon this greatly needed work. I am exceedingly anxious 
to say nothing that will in any way embarrass your work. Would it be asking 
too much to let me have a statement as to the attitude of your organization 
towards the relief of children in Soviet Russia, so that I might bring what I 
sincerely hope will be an encouraging word to the meeting in Philadelphia on 
January 18th. 

Thanking you for the courtesy of a reply, I am 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) J. L. Magnes. 
Mr. Herbert C. Hoover, 

European Children's Relief Council, 
115 Broadway, New York City. 



[2] 

European Relief Council 

Herbert Hoover, Chairman 

42 Broadway 

New York City 

January 8, 1921. 
Mr. J. L. Magnes, 
114 Fifth Avenue, 
New York City. 
My dear Mr. Magnes: 

Mr. Hoover has asked me to acknowledge your letter of January 5th. 
You probably know that the European Relief Council has after most care- 

* See pages 31 and 33. 

16 



ful deliberation decided to limit its appeal for funds in its operation to the 
children of Europe. The American Relief Administration is concerned with 
feeding and clothing of the children, while the Red Cross and the Jewish Joint 
Distribution Committee will cooperate as far as the medical and health work 
is concerned. 

As to Soviet Russia, we have refrained from entering into this field until 
we could secure satisfactory assurances which would protect our workers and 
our supplies, and give us the necesary freedom in distributing to the children 
without discrimination as to politics, race, or religion. Such assurances have 
not been forthcoming. However, our organization has authorized the feeding 
of Russian refugee children in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Germany, and 
we have also instructed our representatives to investigate the refugee camps 
in Bulgaria and if a necessity exists there to extend our operations. 

We are also jointly with the Red Cross assuming the care of the refugee 
children in the neighborhood of Constantinople and you are authorized to state 
that outside of the actual Soviet lines to the best of our information we are 
caring for all the problems of child feeding among the Russian refugee children. 

Sincerely yours, 

(Signed) Perrin C. Galpin, 

Acting Secretary to Mr. Hoover. 



[3] 

114 Fifth Avenue 
New York, January 11, 1921. 
Mr. Perrin C. Galpin, 
Acting Secretary, 
42 Broadway, 

New York City. 
Dear Mr. Galpin: 

I thank you for your kind letter of January 8, in response to mine of Jan- 
uary 5. 

You state that satisfactory assurances have not been forthcoming that 
your workers and supplies in Soviet Russia would be protected, and that your 
supplies would be distributed to the children without discrimination as to 
politics, race, or religion. 

Would it be too much to ask when these assurances were sought, and what 
the nature of the answer to your inquiry was? 

I am asking because I have in my possession a copy of a letter under date 
of November 18, 1920,* addressed by Mr. Martens, the Soviet Representative 
in America, to Mr. H. B. R. Briggs, Associate Editor of the Newspaper Enter- 
prise Association of Cleveland, Ohio. In that letter Mr. Martens says: 



* See page 32. 

17 



"I do not know upon what occasion nor under what circumstances 
the American Relief Administration has ever applied to the Soviet Gov- 
ernment for permission to send relief to Soviet Russia. If such applica- 
tion was made, I have never seen any published account of it, nor has 
the desire of the American Relief Administration to enter Soviet Russia 
ever been reported to me either by my Government or by the Relief 
Administration. . . . 

"I have had unofficial information that two workers on the staff of 
the American Relief Administration visited Moscow within recent months. 
My information is that these workers were most cordially received and 
were favorably impressed by their reception. Whether they were em- 
powered on behalf of the Relief Administration to conduct negotiations 
with a view to relief work in Soviet Russia I do not know. 

"Knowing the desire of the Soviet Government to use every practical 
means for relieving the acute needs of the population, I cannot believe 
that a bona fide offer from the American Relief Administration to send 
relief to Soviet Russia would be met with anything but a cordial and 
sympathetic reception by the Soviet Government. The Soviet Govern- 
ment has already manifested its willingness to cooperate with foreign 
relief organizations, as in the case of the Joint Distribution Committee, 
and in the case of the American and English Friends Societies. The 
English Friends have had a representative, Mr. Arthur J. Watts, in 
Soviet Russia for several months, working with the full cooperation and 
encouragement of the Soviet authorities. A representative of the Amer- 
ican Friends Service Committee of Philadelphia, Miss Anna J. Haines, 
is now on her way to Russia for the purpose of distributing relief . Miss 
Haines has received assurances both from myself and from the central 
authorities at Moscow that her work will be welcomed. 

"In view of these circumstances, it is difficult to understand the 
statement of the American Relief Administration that they have not 
been allowed by the Soviet Government to go into Russia. . . . 

"If the American Relief Administration desires to use the funds 
which it is now collecting, or the stocks which it has on hand, for the 
relief of starving children in Soviet Russia it may easily do so. There 
is nothing to prevent the Relief Administration from shipping supplies 
direct to Soviet Russia. These supplies would be gladly received and 
fairly distributed by the Soviet Government. If the American Relief 
Administration desired to inspect the manner of distribution of these 
supplies or to cooperate in that distribution, I am sure that this could 
be arranged." 

From this it would appear that satisfactory assurances may be obtained 
for the distribution of relief supplies to children in Soviet Russia. 

I am sure that additional information in relation to satisfactory assurances 
can be secured. 

Inasmuch as I am to address the meeting in Philadelphia on January 18, 
I should be grateful to you for an answer at your early convenience. 

Thanking you, I am 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) J. L. Magnes. 

18 



[4] 

American Relief Administration 

Herbert Hoover, Chairman 

42 Broadway 

New York City 

January 12, 1921. 
Mr. J. L. Magnes, 
114 Fifth Avenue, 
New York City. 
My dear Mr. Magnes: 

Thanks for your letter of January 11th in which you quote at length the 
letter from Mr. Martens, Soviet Representative in America. 

It is not so much a question of assurances between the Soviet Government 
and the American Relief Administration as it is the necessity of having our own 
State Department satisfied that such assurances as we might be able to secure 
would be satisfactory, and they would be satisfied that we would be protected 
in using contributions from American citizens in undertaking this work. We 
would suggest that as we look to the State Department for approval of any 
plans for entering any comprehensive arrangement for child feeding in Soviet 
Russia, that you secure their opinion for use in your address in Philadelphia. 

Sincerely yours, 

(Signed) Perrin C. Galpin, 

Acting Secretary to Mr. Hoover. 



[5] 



114 Fifth Avenue 
New York, January 14, 1921. 



Mr. Herbert C. Hoover, Chairman, 

European Relief Council, 
42 Broadway, 

New York City. 
Dear Sir: 

I have had correspondence with your acting secretary, Mr. Galpin, con- 
cerning relief for Soviet Russia. As a result of this correspondence, I wrote 
yesterday* to Mr. Norman H. Davis, Acting Secretary of State (copy of this 
letter is enclosed). 

In this letter I asked Mr. Davis if the State Department would permit 
your organization to bring relief to Soviet Russia, provided satisfactory assur- 
ances were forthcoming. I sent this inquiry at the suggestion made in Mr. 
Galpin's letter of January 12. From his letter it would appear that it is owing 



* See page 27. 

19 



to the policy of the State Department that your organization cannot bring 
relief to Soviet Russia. 

Meanwhile, in this morning's "New York Times," there is printed a letter 
from Acting Secretary of State Davis to Mr. Alton B. Parker, President of 
the National Civic Federation, dated January 8. 

He says that the Department of State has taken an intense and continual 
interest in the possibility of arranging for large scale relief work in Soviet Rus- 
sia by strong and reputable organizations, but that difficulties have been raised, 
not by the Government of the United States, but by the Soviets. Representa- 
tives of the large relief organizations, he continues, have visited Soviet authori- 
ties in Moscow; but, with two exceptions, they have been met by rebuffs. 
These two organizations, he specifies later in his letter as the Jewish Joint Dis- 
tribution Committee and the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers). 

The conclusion, therefore, is, that your organization endeavored to estab- 
lish a modus vivendi for large scale relief work, but was rebuffed. 

May I ask is this correct? Mr. Galpin's letter of January 12 places full 
responsibility upon the State Department, and the State Department now 
places the responsibility upon your organization. Moreover, the Soviet Rep- 
resentative in America, Mr. Martens, declared in the letter which I quoted to 
Mr. Galpin that, as far as he is aware, your organization has never sought to 
establish this modus vivendi. Furthermore, it is common knowledge that two 
of your representatives visited Russia and brought back exceedingly favorable 
reports. 

It would seem that there has been some slip-up between your organization 
and the State Department, seeing that each is anxious to have relief work done 
in Soviet Russia, and that each charges the other with responsibility for the 
failure to do this work. 

Would you be good enough to let me know how these apparently contra- 
dictory statements can be reconciled? Furthermore, would it not be possible 
for your organization to arrange with the American Friends Service Committee 
to do for Soviet Russia what you and they together are so generously and nobly 
doing for the children of Germany and Austria? In accordance with Acting 
Secretary of State Davis, the American Friends Service Committee has been 
operating almost continuously in Russia. Inquiry from the American Friends 
Service Committee in Philadelphia will convince you that their relief supplies 
have reached Russia safely, that they have been stored securely, that they have 
been distributed satisfactorily, and that they have had the utmost cooperation 
from the Soviet authorities. Their workers have been given every opportunity, 
so I am informed, to visit institutions and homes, to direct that supplies be 
shipped to these particular homes, and to visit these homes afterwards. 

Under these circumstances, has not the time come for laying aside all other 
considerations except those of our common humanity? 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) J. L. Magnes. 

Enclosures: 

Letter to Acting Secretary of State, Jan. 13. (See p. 27) 
Letter to Acting Secretary of State, Jan. 14. (See p. 27-28) 

20 



[6] 

European Relief Council 

Herbert Hoover, Chairman 

42 Broadway 

New York City 

January 14, 1921. 
Mr. J. L. Magnes, 
114 Fifth Avenue, 
New York City. 
Dear Mr. Magnes: 

My attention has been called to various correspondence that you have 
had with this office on the subject of relief for children in Russia. I do not 
believe that there is any place in the world where the suffering of children is 
greater than in Bolshevik Russia, due, in fact, to Bolshevism itself. Never- 
theless, I would be glad indeed if you can solve this problem to the satisfaction 
of the American people. 

So far as the present appeal of the European Relief Council is concerned, 
it is for the purpose of maintaining children already upon American respon- 
sibility, including 200,000 Russian children outside Bolshevik Russia. It is 
specifically not for the expansion of relief operations in other parts of Europe. 

I would say generally, first, that I shall not ask the American people for 
charity toward Bolshevik Russia until complete American supervision can be 
established, upon the same terms as we act everywhere else in the world; second, 
that the organization I direct will not jeopardize Americans by establishing 
them in Russia so long as Americans are held prisoners without cause. 

Notwithstanding all this, if there are Americans who wish to entrust their 
money in these present conditions, and if there are Americans who are willing 
to go into Russia, I have not the right nor desire to obstruct. 

Finally, I would call your attention to the fact established by the State 
Department that so far as the United States is concerned nothing prevents the 
Bolshevik Government from devoting their gold to the purchase of American 
milk for their children in preference to distributing it abroad to delude the 
world and create bloodshed. 

Yours faithfully, 

(Signed) Herbert Hoover. 



[7] 

114 Fifth Avenue 

New York, January 17, 1921. 
Dear Mr. Hoover: 

I thank you for your letter of January 14th concerning relief to Soviet 
Russia. 

Your statement that the State Department does not prevent the Soviet 
Government from devoting their gold to the purchase of American milk for 

21 



their children was new to me, and I am wiring the State Department asking 
them to confirm this. 

Could you let me know the precise terms in accordance with which you 
would be ready to carry on relief work in Soviet Russia? 

Could you let me know the names of the Americans held as prisoners in 
Russia without cause? It may be that if, in fact, they are held without cause, 
efforts to have them released will not be in vain. 

Finally, is it too much to ask you to let me know if and when you have 
made efforts to secure the consent of the Soviet Government to the terms upon 
which you would be ready to do relief work in Russia; and also if and when 
endeavors have been made to secure the release of those Americans who are 
held prisoners in Russia without cause? 

Thanking you for your courtesy, I am 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) J. L. Magnes. 
Mb. Herbert Hoover, 

European Relief Council, 
42 Broadway, 

New York City. 



[Sent after Philadelphia meeting] 

[8J 

114 Fifth Avenue 

New York, January 21, 1921. 
Mr. Herbeet Hooveb, 

European Relief Council, 

42 Broadway, New York. 
Dear Mr. Hoover: 

I am enclosing a copy of a letter of January 20, 1921,* which I have just 
received from Mr. Norman H. Davis, Acting Secretary of State. 

I regret that you should have permitted the State Department to infer 
that any one wished you to carry on negotiations with the Department in any 
way except directly. I urged that your organization and the State Department 
"get together and subject the facts to a thorough revision." 

I am still without answers to the following questions: 

1. Would it be possible for you to announce the precise terms in accord- 
ance with which your organization would be ready to carry on relief 
work in Soviet Russia? 

2. Could you publish the names of the Americans held as prisoners in 
Russia without cause, to the end that all of us together may make 
efforts to have them released? 

Thus far I have had no reply from the State Department in answer to my 
request for a confirmation of your statement that "so far as the United States 
is concerned nothing prevents the Bolshevik Government from devoting their 
gold to the purchase of American milk for their children." 

*Seepage29. 

22 



I wish to assure you — what I thought was hardly necessary — that the sole 
purpose of my correspondence is to do what little I can to bring some relief to 
the suffering Russian people without regard to race, religion, nationality, or po- 
litical opinion. 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) J. L. Magnes. 



APPENDIX II 
COPIES OF CORRESPONDENCE WITH AMERICAN RED CROSS 

[1] 

114 Fifth Avenue 
New York, January 5, 1921. 
Dear Dr. Farrand: 

I am expecting to deliver an address at the Philadelphia Opera House on 
Tuesday evening, January 18, in behalf of medical relief for Soviet Russia. 

In preparing my address, it seems to me important to turn to the American 
Red Cross with the inquiry concerning its attitude towards medical relief in 
Soviet Russia. I know that your organization has had this question under 
advisement for a long time past, and I am hopeful that perhaps the time has 
now come when the American Red Cross sees its way clear to bringing to the 
population of Soviet Russia some of the medical relief undoubtedly needed 
there. I should be very happy to bring so heartening and encouraging a 
sage to this meeting in Philadelphia. 

Thanking you for the courtesy of a reply, I am 



Dr. Livingston Farrand, 
American Red Cross, 
Washington, D. C. 



Very truly yours, 

(Signed) J. L. Magnes. 



The American Red Cross 

National Headquarters 

Washington, D. C. 

January 6, 1921. 
My dear Doctor Magnes: 

I have your letter of January 5th, with its inquiry as to the attitude of 
the American Red Cross to medical relief in Soviet Russia. 

23 



For many months, we have been watching the situation in Russia with a 
view to possible action, should conditions warrant. The Red Cross is not con- 
cerned with political conditions, as such, but must always determine its activi- 
ties according to its best judgment as to the practicability of effective service. 
Practicability is only to be determined in the light of all considerations and up 
to this time the opinion of our representatives in Europe in the best position 
to judge has been, that the conditions in Soviet Russia were not such as to 
insure independent and effective action, according to Red Cross standards. 
Whenever the situation may be such as to change this point of view, the Red 
Cross will hope to be able to act to whatever extent may be consistent with 
available resources. 

Yours very truly, 

(Signed) Livingston Fakrand. 

Chairman, Central Committee. 
Dr. J. L. Magnes, 
114 Fifth Avenue, 
New York City. 



[3] 

114 Fifth Avenue 

New York, January 13, 1921. 
Dear Dr. Farrand: 

Permit me to thank you for your letter of January 6 in answer to mine of 
January 5 inquiring as to the attitude of the American Red Cross to medical 
relief in Soviet Russia. I made a similar inquiry of Mr. Hoover's organization. 
At first* I was informed that they had refrained from entering Soviet Russia 
until they "could secure satisfactory assurances which would protect our workers 
and our supplies, and give us the necessary freedom in distributing to the 
children without discrimination as to politics, race or religion. Such assurances 
have not been forthcoming." After further correspondence, I have just been 
informed thatf "it is not so much a question of assurances between the Soviet 
Government and the American Relief Administration as it is the necessity of 
having our own State Department satisfied that such assurances as we might 
be able to secure would be satisfactory." 

As far as I am able to interpret this latter statement, it means that the 
American Relief Administration does not enter Russia because of political con- 
ditions. 

As to the Red Cross, however, you say it "is not concerned with political 
conditions as such," and that the opinion of your representatives in Europe has 
been "that the conditions in Soviet Russia were not such as to insure inde- 
pendent and effective action according to Red Cross standards." 

Would it be possible for you to inform me upon what considerations this 
opinion of your European representatives is based; and, further, what, in the 
opinion of the Red Cross, would have to be done so as to insure independent 
and effective action according to Red Cross standards? 



* See page 17. 
t " " 19. 



24 



If you could let me have this information before Tuesday, January 18, 
when I am to deliver an address at the Philadelphia Opera House on medical 
relief to Soviet Russia, I should be grateful to you. 



Very truly yours. 

(Signed) J. L. Magnes. 



Dr. Livingston Farrand, 

Chairman, Central Committee, 
American Red Cross, 
Washington, D. C. 



APPENDIX III 

COPIES OF CORRESPONDENCE WITH AMERICAN FRIENDS 
SERVICE COMMITTEE 

[1] 

114 Fifth Avenue 

New York, January 11, 1921. 
Dear Mr. Thomas: 

I am corresponding with the Hoover organization concerning relief in 
Soviet Russia. 

They contend that they cannot get satisfactory assurances that their 
workers and supplies will be protected and that these supplies will be distrib- 
uted to children without regard to religion, race, or politics. 

I am assured here that satisfactory assurances, if asked for by the Hoover 
organization, could and would be given. 

Would you mind letting me know what the experience of your organization 
and that of the English Friends has been? Have you had satisfactory assur- 
ances, and is your work being carried on in Soviet Russia satisfactorily to your- 
selves? 

My correspondence with the Hoover organization arose out of the fact 
that I am to address a meeting for medical relief in Soviet Russia in Philadel- 
phia on the evening of January 18. 

Thanking you for letting me have this information, and with regards, I am 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) J. L. Magnes. 



Mr. Wilbur K. Thomas, 

Executive Secretary, 

American Friends Service Committee, 

20 S. 12th Street, 

Philadelphia, Pa. 



25 



[2] 
AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE 

Philadelphia, January 12, 1921. 

Dr. J. L. Magnes, 
114 Fifth Ave., 

New York City, N. Y. 

Dear Dr. Magnes: 

I do not know what the attitude of Mr. Hoover's organization is toward 
relief work in Russia, but I know that at the present time they are doing noth- 
ing in Russia except in Eastern Poland. 

We have made our third shipment of relief supplies to Russia and they 
have been distributed satisfactorily. A report from our two representatives 
received this morning, dated December 16 at Hotel Savoy, Moscow, states 
that they have selected a warehouse which belongs to the Co-operative Society 
(Centrosous), where our supplies will be stored. The Centrosous has, as you 
probably know, been nationalized and is now the distributing agent for the 
Commissariat for Supplies. By working in conjunction with them we shall 
be free to distribute to institutions belonging to various Commissariats, though 
in the first instance we propose to confine our help to the Department for Pro- 
tection of Children's Health or to Institutions recommended by their medical 
inspectors. 

So far our relationships have been most satisfactory, for our workers have 
been given every opportunity to visit Institutions and Homes, direct that sup- 
plies be shipped to those particular Homes, and visit the Homes afterwards. 
We feel that they have been very kind and fair to us and are glad to cooperate 
with them in any way that we can. 

We are getting some material now direct from Russia, but as it is not copied 
we cannot let it go out of the office very well. If you are coming over here 
on the 18th I hope that you may be able to come into the office some time dur- 
ing the day and look over some of the things we have. 

I would also like to state that we are now soliciting money for our next 
shipment to Russia, and we hope that our f acilities can be used by other organi- 
zations who are interested in getting relief into Russia. 

With best wishes, 

Yours sincerely, 

Wilbur K. Thomas, 

Executive Secretary. 



26 



APPENDIX IV 

COPIES OF CORRESPONDENCE WITH STATE DEPARTMENT 

[1] 

114 Fifth Avenue 
New York January 13, 1921. 
Sir: 

I am taking the liberty of enclosing a copy of correspondence which I have 
had with the American Relief Administration concerning relief for the children 
within Soviet Russia. 

You will observe from the correspondence that I sought information from 
the European Relief Council in view of an address I am to deliver at the Phil- 
adelphia Opera House on Tuesday evening, January 18, in behalf of medical 
relief for Soviet Russia. 

In the letter of January 8,* Mr. Hoover's secretary declares that "satisfac- 
tory assurances which would protect our workers and our supplies and give us 
the necessary freedom in distributing to the children without discrimination as 
to politics, race, or religion . . . have not been forthcoming." 

In my reply of January 11, f I quote from a letter to Mr. H. B. R. Briggs, 
Associate Editor, Newspaper Enterprise Association of Cleveland, from Mr. 
Martens, Soviet Representative in America, casting doubt upon the inference 
that the American Relief Administration ever sought such assurances. In his 
reply of January 12, J Mr. Hoover's secretary practically admits that such 
assurances have not been sought by his organization, and he suggests that as 
his organization looks "to the State Department for approval of any plans for 
entering any comprehensive arrangement for child feeding in Soviet Russia" I 
secure your opinion for use in my address in Philadelphia. 

Would it be possible for you to inform me before Tuesday, January 18, 
if the State Department would permit the American Relief Administration to 
bring relief to Soviet Russia provided satisfactory assurances, which would 
protect American workers and supplies, and which would give them the neces- 
sary freedom in distributing to the children without discrimination as to politics, 
race, or religion, were forthcoming. 

Thanking you for your courtesy, I am 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) J. L. Magnes. 
Mr. Norman H. Davis, 

Acting Secretary of State, 
Washington, D. C. 



[2] 

114 Fifth Avenue 
New York, January 14, 1921. 
Sir: 

In view of your statement of January 8, 1921, to the Hon. Alton B. Parker, 
President of the National Civic Federation, concerning relief to Soviet Russia, 
I take the liberty of supplementing my letter to you of yesterday. 



* See page 16. f See page 17. J See page 19. 

27 



The inference from your statement would seem to be justified that the 
State Department would permit the American Relief Administration to bring 
relief to Soviet Russia provided no obstacles were raised by the Soviet authorities. 

It would appear that no such obstacles have been raised, and that no ob- 
stacles will be raised. 

From my letter of January 11 to Mr. Hoover's organization and from the 
answer of that organization of January 12 (copies of which I sent you yester- 
day), it will be seen that the Hoover organization has not made the attempt 
to establish a modus vivendi for large scale relief. It is common knowledge 
that two of their representatives visited Moscow and brought back favorable 
reports, but the Hoover organization refrained from seeking to establish a 
modus vivendi with Soviet Russia because of what it believed to be the attitude 
of our own State Department. The State Department, however, in its turn, 
bases its attitude upon the reports of American relief organizations, one of 
which is assuredly the Hoover organization. Thus, the Hoover organization 
shifts the responsibility to the State Department, and the State Department 
shifts it to the Hoover organization. Between the two, hundreds of thousands 
of innocent children in Soviet Russia are deprived of the assistance which the 
generosity of the American public might bring them. 

You declare, further, that the Soviets "can not find in their theory of Com- 
munism any excuse for private philanthropy." Whatever be their theory, the 
fact is, as you yourself point out in your letter to Mr. Parker, that two private 
philanthropic organizations, namely, the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee 
and the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) are operating in Soviet 
Russia. 

Inquiry of the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia would 
show that their relief supplies have reached Russia safely, that they have been 
distributed satisfactorily, and that they have had the utmost cooperation from 
the Soviet authorities. Their workers have been given every opportunity, so 
I am informed, to visit institutions and homes, to direct that supplies be shipped 
to these particular homes, and visit these homes afterwards. 

Why could not the American Relief Administration make use of the Amer- 
ican Friends Service Committee (Quakers) in Soviet Russia in the same coop- 
erative and helpful way as is being done in Germany and Austria? If the 
Hoover organization is ready, as they permit you to infer; if the State Depart- 
ment has no objections, as in your letter you declare; if the American Friends 
Service Committee is ready, as they assuredly are, and if their experience in 
Soviet Russia thus far has been satisfactory to that humane and responsible 
organization, what stands in the way of large scale relief for the suffering child- 
ren in Soviet Russia? 

Thanking you for the courtesy of an early reply, if possible before January 
18, I am 

Very truly yours, 



Mr. Norman H. Davis, 

Acting Secretary of State, 
Washington, D. C. 



(Signed) J. L. Magnes. 



Enclosure: 

Letter to Mr. Hoover Jan. 14. (See page 19.) 

28 



[3] 

TELEGRAM 

January 17, 1921. 
Mr. Norman H. Davis, 

Acting Secretary of State, 

Washington, D. C. 
Supplementing my letters of January 13 and 14 concerning relief to Soviet 
Russia. In letter dated January 14 Mr. Hoover calls my attention "to the 
fact established by the State Department that so far as the United States 
is concerned, nothing prevents the Bolshevik Government from devoting their 
gold to the purchase of American milk for their children.' ' Will you please 
inform me by wire collect if Mr. Hoover's understanding of State Department 
ruling is correct? 

J. L. Magnes 
114 Fifth Avenue. 



[Received after Philadelphia meeting] 

[4] 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 
Washington 

January 20, 1921. 
Mr. J. L. Magnes, 

114 Fifth Avenue, 
New York City. 
Sir: 

The Department is in receipt of your letters of January 13 and 14, 1921, 
enclosing copies of some correspondence between yourself and the American 
Relief Administration with reference to relief work in Soviet Russia, and also 
your telegram of January 17, 1921. 

The Department has been in consultation with Mr. Hoover and under- 
stands that he prefers to carry on his negotiations with the Department directly, 
and not through a third party. 

Although the Department of State does not feel justified in actively encour- 
aging American citizens to enter Soviet territory on relief missions, in view of 
the fact that the Soviet authorities are holding American citizens who are not 
charged with crime, as hostages, you will see by reference to my letter to Mr. 
Parker of January 8th that the Department has given a great deal of thought 
and attention to the possibility of relief work in Soviet territory. You will 
find by reference to that letter that the larger American relief organizations, 
which have considered the extension of their work to territory controlled by 
the Soviets, have been discouraged by the hostility of the Soviet authorities to 
private relief. 

I am, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

(Signed) Norman H. Davis, 
Acting Secretary of State. 

29 



[Sent after Philadelphia meeting] 

[5] 

114 Fifth Avenue, 

New York, January 21, 1921. 

Sir: 

I beg to thank you for your letter of January 20 in answer to my letters 
of January 13 and January 14, 1921, and my telegram of January 17, 1921, 
with reference to relief work in Soviet Russia. To my great regret, there is 
no reply to the questions that I have asked. 

These questions are: 

I. As to the American Relief Administration: 

(a) When, and under what circumstances did the American 
Relief Administration meet with rebuffs from the Soviet 
authorities? 

(b) Is it not a fact that two representatives of the American 
Relief Administration presented a favorable report to the 
American Relief Administration concerning the need and 
the possibility of private relief in Soviet Russia? 

(c) Is it not a fact that the American Relief Administration has 
never sought assurances from the Soviet authorities, or pro- 
posed the terms to the Soviet authorities upon which it 
would be willing to engage upon large scale relief work in 
Soviet Russia? 

II. As to the purchase of American milk with Bolshevik gold: 

Is it a fact, as Mr. Hoover declares, that the State Depart- 
ment has established the fact that "so far as the United 
States is concerned nothing prevents the Bolshevik Govern- 
ment from devoting their gold to the purchase of American 
milk for their children?" 

III. As to American citizens held as hostages by the Soviet authorities: 

Would it be possible to publish the names of these hostages 
to the end that all influences, both private and public, might 
be brought to bear upon the Soviet authorities to release 
these American citizens if, as is contended, they are held 
as hostages and are not charged with crime? 

IV. As to the attitude of the Soviet authorities to the larger American relief 

organizations: 

Is it not a fact that, in addition to giving assurances of co- 
operation to the representatives of the American Relief 
Administration, the Soviet authorities have shown every 
desire to cooperate, and have actually cooperated, with the 
American Red Cross Mission to Russia, the American Friends 
Service Committee (Quakers) and the Jewish Joint Dis- 
tribution Committee? 

I should be sincerely grateful for an answer to these questions because 
I am convinced that through a clarification of the situation, we should be help- 

30 



ing what I assume all of us want, namely, to bring relief to the suffering Russian 
people without distinction of race, religion, nationality, or political opinion. 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) J. L. Magnes. 
Mr. Norman H. Davis, 
Acting Secretary of State, 
Washington, D. C. 



APPENDIX V 
COPIES OF CORRESPONDENCE OF RUSSIAN SOVIET BUREAU 

[1] 

The Newspaper Enterprise Association 
Main Office 1200 West Third Street Cleveland, Ohio 

XEA 

Editorial Department 

cleveland 

November 16, 1920. 
Mr. L. C. A. K. Martens, 

Russian Soviet Government Bureau, 
110 West 40th Street, 
New York City. 
Dear Sir: 

In response to a plea contained in the Literary Digest for funds for the 
American Relief Administration headed by Herbert Hoover, I wrote to the 
Literary Digest under date of October 30, in one paragraph of my letter as 
follows: 

"Am I right in inferring from this, that a portion of the funds col- 
lected will be used in saving the lives of starving children in Soviet 
Russia?" 

I am today in receipt of a letter signed by George Barr Baker of the Amer- 
ican Relief Administration, 42 Broadway, New York City, in which this state- 
ment is made: 

"We have not been allowed by the Soviet Government to go into 
Soviet Russia." 

Before communicating further with the American Relief Administration 
on this subject I should be glad to have any comment that you care to make 
on the statement made in Mr. Baker's letter that the Soviet Government 
does not permit the American Relief Administration to go into Soviet Russia 
for the purpose of feeding the children there. Also, I should like to have your 
permission to publish your reply if deemed desirable. 

Very sincerely yours, 

(Signed) H. B. R. Briggs, 

Associate Editor. 

31 



[2] 

November 18, 1920. 
Mr. H. B. R. Briggs, 

Associate Editor, 

Newspaper Enterprise Association, 
Cleveland, Ohio. 
Dear Sir: 

I have received your letter of November 16 directing my attention to a 
statement made by Mr. George Barr Baker of the American Relief Adminis- 
tration to the following effect: "We have not been allowed by the Soviet Gov- 
ernment to go into Soviet Russia." 

I do not know upon what occasion nor under what circumstances the Amer- 
ican Relief Administration has ever applied to the Soviet Government for per- 
mission to send relief to Soviet Russia. If such application was made, I have 
never seen any published account of it, nor has the desire of the American Relief 
Administration to enter Soviet Russia ever been reported to me either by my 
Government or by the Relief Administration. Negotiations may have been 
conducted of which I am unaware. However, the fact remains that the Amer- 
ican Relief Administration with its headquarters in this city has never ap- 
proached me with any expression of its desire or willingness to go into Soviet 
Russia, a step which would appear to be the natural and appropriate one if 
such desire or willingness existed. 

I have had unofficial information that two workers on the staff of the 
American Relief Administration visited Moscow within recent months. My 
information is that these workers were most cordially received and were favor- 
ably impressed by their reception. Whether they were empowered on behalf 
of the Relief Administration to conduct negotiations with a view to relief work 
in Soviet Russia I do not know. 

Knowing the desire of the Soviet Government to use every practical means 
for relieving the acute needs of the population, I cannot believe that a bona 
fide offer from the American Relief Administration to send relief to Soviet 
Russia would be met with anything but a cordial and sympathetic reception 
by the Soviet Government. The Soviet Government has already manifested 
its willingness to cooperate with foreign relief organizations, as in the case of 
the Joint Distribution Committee, and in the case of the American and English 
Friends Societies. The English Friends have had a representative, Mr. Arthur 
J. Watts, in Soviet Russia for several months, working with the full cooperation 
and encouragement of the Soviet authorities. A representative of the American 
Friends Service Committee, of Philadelphia, Miss Anna J. Haines, is now on 
her way to Russia for the purposes of distributing relief. Miss Haines has 
received assurances both from myself and from the central authorities at Mos- 
cow that her work will be welcomed. 

In view of these circumstances, it is difficult to understand the statement 
of the American Relief Administration that they have not been allowed by the 
Soviet Government to go into Russia. I should be interested to know when 
and to whom the American Relief Administration made application for per- 
mission to enter Russia, and if such application was made, what conditions 
were proposed for the carrying out of this relief work, and what response this 
application received from the Soviet Government. 

If the American Relief Administration desires to use the funds which it is 

32 



how collecting, or the stocks which it has on hand, for the relief of starving 
children in Soviet Russia it may easily do so. There is nothing to prevent the 
Relief Administration from shipping supplies direct to Soviet Russia. These 
supplies would be gladly received and fairly distributed by the Soviet Govern- 
ment. If the American Relief Administration desired to inspect the manner 
of distribution of these supplies or to cooperate in that distribution I am sure 
that this could be arranged. 

While the Soviet Government would gladly receive relief for its suffering 
population from any disinterested foreign agency, it does not ask for charity 
in this respect. We ask rather to be allowed to purchase in foreign markets 
those essential supplies of medicine, soap and other necessities for lack of which 
men, women and children in Soviet Russia are now suffering. Relief would 
be welcome: but the suffering would be removed and relief would be unneces- 
sary, if the foreign governments would remove their ruthless blockade against 
the resumption of normal commerce. 

You are at liberty to make any use of this letter you see fit. 
Thanking you for the interest you have taken in this matter, I remain. 

Yours very truly. 

(Signed) L. C. A. K. Martens, 

Representative in the United 
States of the Russian Socialist 
Federal Soviet Republic. 



[3] 

The Literary Digest 

Funk & Wagxalls Company 

publishers 

New York, December 23, 1920. 
Dr. J. Wilkixsox, 

Saint John's Hospital. 
Springfield, Illinois. 
Dear Dr. Wilkixson: 

We have noted your letter of December 20th, and have inquired more 
particularly regarding the children of Soviet Russia and have received direct 
from the American Relief Administration the following information which you 
will be glad to have: 

"It is a mistake to say that the children of Soviet Russia are 'excluded' 
from the benefits of the American Relief Adminstration and the Euro- 
pean Relief Council. The only children who are 'excluded' are the thous- 
ands in the very midst of the principal feeding centers who are above 
normal in weight and who must be excluded in order that those under 
weight may have the food. Tens of thousands of Russians, who have 
drifted through the Bolshevik and Polish lines into Poland, are fed even- 
day by these organizations, and the Quakers are in Soviet Russia carry- 
ing organized relief to Russian children, and receive their financial sup- 
port from Mr. Hoover's organization. 

Yen- sincerely yours, 

The Literary Digest," 

By M. 

33 



APPENDIX VI 

ftOW f Hfc NORTH-WESTERN GOVERNMENT WAS ORGANIZED 

"We, V. D. Kuzmin-Karavayev, A. V. Kartashev, and M. N. Surovov, 
upon entering upon the execution of our duties as members of the Political 
Council, were for the first time in Revel from the 7th to the 12th of June. We 
then succeeded in entering into an agreement with the representatives of the 
American Relief Commission and to secure, first of all, the direct issuing of 
flour for the population of the occupied territories, independently of the Estho- 
nian authorities, and secondly, an allocation of flour, bacon, and fats for the 
provisioning of troops. In regard to money difficulties which confronted us, 
we had a hope that these difficulties would be removed in the very near future, 
as a telegram which had just been received from London reported that nego- 
tiations for a loan in London of one million pounds sterling in Finnish marks, 
i.e., about fifty-five million Finnish marks, was successfully concluded. 

"This hope, however, only made us waste two weeks of time in expectation 
and was not justified. But the requirements at the front and in the rear did 
not allow any kind of delay. Evidence how critical the situation was can be 
had from the fact that the proposition was made to General Yudenich from the 
Northern Corps that permission be given to print counterfeit Kerensky notes. 
This proposal was, of course, refused. Instead of that permission was given 
to issue exchange certificates, but at first only for a small amount of three 
million rubles. This was done because General Gough was several times in- 
formed about the critical situation in regard to money and we had his replies, 
from which it was evident that he is making representations to his government 
with favorable conclusions for the allocation to General Yudenich of a money 
subsidy in the amount of up to eight million pounds per month. 

"The complete lack of money compelled at that time the Northern Corps 
to resort to the sale of the American flour to the population not at cost, but at 
a considerable profit. The extreme undesirability of such measure was too 
evident, but it was impossible to prohibit it. Because in reply came a demand 
for money, but there was no money. On the first of July the Political Council, 
together with General Yudenich, left on a French mine layer for Revel. There 
an estimate was presented to us which showed that it is necessary to have fifty 
millions of rubles per month for the maintenance of the Northern Corps and of 
the civil government. We could not have done anything else but accept the 
estimate for information, and silently approve the sale of the American flour 
at an increased price and to give permission to print exchange certificates already 
not for three but for thirty millions. On the 4th of July the Political Council 
resolved to begin printing in Stockholm of credit notes of the field treasury 
with the guarantee of payment after the taking of Petrograd, for one billion, 
two hundred milhon rubles. 

"Of course, only at a future date will it be possible to define and make 
clear exhaustively all those complicated causes which were responsible for the 
disorganization of the rear of the North- Western army. But even now it would 
hardly be erroneous to state that the sale of the American flour at an increased 
price had a fatal effect. In the war with the Bolsheviks food supplies assure 
success, probably, in a greater degree than cannon and rifles. During the 
movement of the Northern Corps forward, the population of the occupied ter- 

34 



ritories received the white armies as liberators from terror and hunger. But 
the military command during a whole month did not have any food at its dis- 
posal, and later, when it received food, it began to sell it at a price which was 
six times greater than the price at which the Esthonian government sold the 
same American flour through distribution by card, and almost three times 
higher than the free market price. And, of course, it is evident that it is un- 
necessary to prove that the Bolshevik propaganda took advantage of this. The 
attitude of the population to the Whites did not improve but became worse. 
It became worse still more from association with soldiers who had not received 
their pay. An atmosphere of dissatisfaction was being created, i.e., that which 
is in a civil war the most fatal in every sense and in every regard." 

(The above statement is translated from a pamphlet issued in Helsingfors in 1920. 
This pamphlet contains some documents and a signed statement dated September 22, 
1919, and signed by V. D. Kuzmin-Karavayev, A. V. Karteshev, who was a member of 
the Provisional Government under Kerensky and the Procurator of the Holy Synod, 
and M. N. Suvorov, a General of the old Russian army. All of these men were mem- 
bers of the Political Council with the Commander-in-Chief of the North-Western front 
(General Yudenich) which Council consisted of five members and was the civilian gov- 
ernment for the territories occupied by General Yudenich's armies. The pamphlet is 
entitled "How the North- Western Government was Organized." The purpose of the 
pamphlet is not to attack or criticize the American Relief Committee, but is an explana- 
tion why these three men who were invited by the British military authorities to join 
the North-Western government which was organized on August 11, 1919, refused to do so.) 



35 



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